Monday, August 25, 2008

The Business of Art workshop at Robinson Film Center on Sat, Sept 13, 9 am

Clyde Connell, the most successful fine arts producer to spring from this region, believed in the power to be gotten from outside experts. She fashioned her career - which took her from the shores of Lake Bistineau to exhibits in Paris, Geneva and NYC - by visiting NYC and listening to the critics and artists from outside this region. If Connell were alive today I think she'd see the merit in this project:

The Business of Art, coordinated by Jane Allison, LSUS

8:30-9:00 Registration/Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:20 Welcome/Introductions
9:20-10:20 Group Session
Thrive, Not Just Survive: Increase Sales with Dynamic Marketing Strategies
General session keynote by Bruce Baker, nationally recognized arts & crafts marketing expert, artist and gallery owner.

10:20-10:30 Break

10:30-noon Breakout sessions—Choose 1
Record Keeping – Deb King, consultant, Louisiana Small Business Development Center
Booth Design & Merchandising for Craft and Trade Shows—Bruce Baker
Crafting Your Artist’s Statement-Veronique LeMelle

Noon-1:30 Lunch—Creating a Buzz on the Internet—Websites, Blogs & Social Networking sites
Panel Discussion: Gene Meneray, Robert Trudeau, Wendy Benscoter, Janet Maines
1:30-3:00 Breakout sessions – Choose 1
Marketing on a Shoestring Budget – Gene Meneray,
Wholesaling 101—Bruce Baker
Crafting Your Artist’s Statement (repeat)
3:00-3:10 BREAK
3:10-3:55 Group Session: The Artist as Entrepreneur: Am I Making Money Yet?
Panel Discussion
3:55-4:40 Group Session: Funding Opportunities & Realities —Loans, Grants, Cultural Products District, etc. – opportunities and limitations of each – Shreveport Regional Arts Council, Small Business Development Center, state agencies

Workshop Speakers
Bruce Baker has led over 600 workshops throughout the United States and Canada in the last 25 years. He is on the faculty of the Arts Business Institute and regularly conducts workshops at the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft, the nation’s largest wholesale market of American craft art. He is a regular contributor to national art and crafts publications.

Veronique Le Melle is a management consultant with Artisin, LLC, a New Jersey-based company providing business development and management services for the arts. Previously, Le Melle was executive director of the Louisiana Division of the Arts, where she implemented a streamlined grant application process. She has been director of culture and tourism for the Office of Queens Borough (New York) and served from 1992 until 2001 as the executive director of Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning Inc.

Call (318) 797-5144 to register.

Gene Meneray is director of the Arts Business Program of the Arts Council of New Orleans, which has created numerous new programs, including the Arts Market of New Orleans, ELLA Project and the Artist as Entrepreneur program. Meneray has also worked as marketing director for Thomas Mann Design and as public art manager for the SouthEast Effective Development in Seattle.

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